Chris Lawrence and the IceDogs had the second best record in the Eastern Conference this year, but will have the No. 3 seed as East Division Champion Belleville automatically gets the No. 2. Mississauga and Sudbury split in 6 games this year, with one of Sudburyâ€™s 3 wins coming in a shootout. Lawrence led all IceDogs in scoring against the Wolves this year with 4-3-7 in the 6 games. The series begins tonight in Mississauga. Lawrence and IceDogs did not make the playoffs last season.

This is a rematch of last yearâ€™s hard fought second round battle between the Knights and Marek Bartanusâ€™ Owen Sound Attack. Owen Sound held a 2 games to 1 lead on the heavily favored Knights last year before losing the series in 6 games with Game 5 going into overtime. London ended up losing to Jordan Staal and Peterborough in the OHL Finals. Bartanus did well in last yearâ€™s postseason (2-4-6, +2, 8 PIM in 10 games), leading to predictions of a breakout 2006-2007 season that never materialized. London won the 2006-2007 regular season series with Owen Sound 4-2, with 2 of those wins coming in a shootout. Bartanus was minus-4 with an assist vs. the Knights this year. The series starts tonight in London.

Because of the intra-divisional playoff format in the WHL, the leagueâ€™s top seed, Everett, is actually playing the conferenceâ€™s 6-seed. Spokane finished fourth in the U.S. Division and faces Dane Crowley and the Silvertips in the first round, beginning tonight. The Tips have the leagueâ€™s top home record at 31-4-0-1, as well as the best road record, and should be heavily favored if not for the fact they split their season series with the Chiefs 4-4. Crowley had one assist and a plus-3 rating in 4 games against Spokane this year. Crowley, who was brought in by Everett at the deadline as a â€œfinal pieceâ€ to their blueline, was playing for the Swift Current Broncos in last yearâ€™s playoffs. He registered 2 assists, a minus-5 rating, and 23 PIM as the Broncos were swept by the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Tigers went 8-0 to start the 2006 playoffs before being beaten by Blair Jones and Moose Jaw in 5 games.

In a traditional format, this would be a matchup between the 5 and 7 seeds â€“ an oddity for the first round. Be that as it may, the Kamloops Blazers and Prince George Cougars will begin their opening round series tonight in Kamloops. The Blazers were 5-4-1-0 against Vladimir Mihalik this season, so the match-up will be close. The Cougars have underachieved all season as the club boasts 9 NHL draft picks, but theyâ€™ve played well the second half of the season. Mihalik had 3 assists and a plus-1 rating in 6 games vs. Kamloops this year. This is the first playoff meeting for these clubs since the 1997-98 season when Eric Brewer and the Cougars beat Robyn Regehr and the Blazers 4 games to 3 in the first round of the 1998 playoffs. Mihalik played for Red Deer this time last year and the Rebels did not make the playoffs so tonightâ€™s game will be Mihalikâ€™s first playoff contest.